SEATTLE, Wash./BLACKSBURG, Va. - Senior Juliet Bottorff set a new Duke school record in the women's indoor 5,000 meter run finishing in 15:52.38 at the Husky Classic. The four-time All-American finished second overall behind Oregon's Jordan Hasay and ran the fourth-fastest time in the country this year. The previous Duke record was set by All-American Clara Horowitz in 2006.

"Juliet ran a beautiful race," commented associate head coach Kevin Jermyn. "She executed her race plan perfectly. She started off in the back and gradually moved up through the race. She and I are thrilled with her personal best performance."

In Blacksburg, senior Cydney Ross ran to a first place finish in the women's 800m crossing the line in a personal record 2:07.43 to highlight the action at the Virginia Tech Elite Invitational Friday, February 8. The St. Louis, Mo., native led the entire race and ran the best time of any Blue Devil this season, placing herself third on Duke's all-time list. Freshman Anima Banks followed close behind in second place crossing the line in 2:09.21 and sophomore Abby Farley ran a personal record 2:09.96 to finish in sixth place.

In the men's 800, freshmen Michal Filipczak and Tommy Meister had strong showings finishing in fourth and fifth respectively. Filipczak ran a time of 1:52.78, narrowly missing the Duke all-time list by one tenth of a second while Meister, competing for the first time as a Duke Blue Devil, finished in 1:53.09. Sophomore Henry Farley finished sixth in the same event clocking a personal record time 1:54.01.

Sophomore Elizabeth Kerpon finished second in the women's 400m, crossing the line in 55.11. This impressive performance came a week after setting a school record in the women's 200m dash last weekend. She will return to action tomorrow in the women's 4x400m relay.

In the men's 3,000m, sophomore Shaun Thompson ran a personal best 8:21.84 to finish in sixth place while junior Dominick Robinson was on his heels in seventh place crossing the line in 8:24.65. For the women, senior Esther Vermeer and junior Ashley Berry finished in fourth and eight respectively. Vermeer completed the distance in 9:49.31 while Berry set a personal record with her time of 9:55.00.

In the field events, senior Emily Mattoon had an impressive day finishing third in the women's pole vault clearing a personal best 12-7.5(3.85) to finish third overall. Freshman Megan Clark cleared the same height as Mattoon but had more misses throughout the day placing her in fourth place. Both Blue Devils marks were good enough to put them in a tie for fifth place on Duke's all-time list. Sophomore Stephanie Skove also competed in the event, finishing seventh.

Junior Michelle Anumba was the only thrower to compete today for the Blue Devils, finishing fourth in the hammer throw with a mark of 56-10.75 (17.34). The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., native will compete alongside Erica Brand in the women's shot put tomorrow.

"It was a really great night on two fronts," commented Director of Track and Field Norm Ogilvie. "We are so excited for Juliet and her performance out west and we had some great runs by veterans and rookies in Blacksburg tonight. We are looking forward to tomorrow."

The Blue Devils will continue competition tomorrow, February 9. A full recap will be available at the conclusion of the meets.